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Cartoon Drawings

Before you start doing any complicated cartoon drawings, try copying the simple little outlines on this page to warm up your drawing hand.

If you ever feel daunted when facing a blank page, just start off by scibbling these basic images and you'll be good to go.

Tell yourself it doesn't matter how they turn out, just be carefree with a pencil in hand - this results in great satisfaction and a lot of pleasure!

With this attitude, it should also pique your interest to see what you can produce.

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy because we tell ourselves we can't draw and I have learned that is NOT the truth.

There is such a freedom in doodling comical characters and even though I am not the best there is, I still like my finished illustrations.

I drew these cartoons when I first started because it is an easy topic for all beginner artists. They provide motivation because you get to see the evidence that you did a pretty good job even when you're only putting in a half-hearted effort.

Try Cartoon People

People feature in many cartoon drawings so I have done very ordinary outlines of a man and woman for you to experiment with and change expressions.

Cartoonists don't draw things as they appear in real life, instead they use less detail and exaggerate features.

Symbols are used to depict moods and something like a dark cloud over their heads would indicate a bad mood or despair.

The use of symbols can change ordinary images into some pretty cool cartoon drawings.

Expressions also play a large part when indicating moods.

To give myself a better chance of success, I invested in these drawing books to master translating images into a series of lines.

I don't regret any investment I make towards this hobby because everyone needs a teacher at some point in time.

Comics

When I was young, I had a great love for comics. Actually, I used to enjoy re-creating comic book drawings way back then and I thought I achieved a good resemblance.

I recall thinking that I wasn't really an artist because I was only copying and not creating the images myself. Little did I know that is one way to learn how to draw and I should have kept going.

I am sure I learnt a lot about drawing from those old comics. After all, any practice is good practice.

I still read comic-strips for a laugh as well as keeping a look out for simple images to copy.

Here's a thumbs up for comics and cartoons!

Creating Styles

The old barn drawing was so easy to draw and it took no time at all. This example shows how to reduce subjects into a few simple lines and then easily convert them into a cartoony style.

I saw this old shed in a book that I was flicking through, so I grabbed the nearest pencil and copied it as I was standing beside the table. I didn't want to lose the urge to draw it so there was no time to get comfortable!

It makes me feel great to see drawings like this emerge from my pencil -- it wasn't labored over, the feeling I had was more like freedom to see what happened.

If barns and old buildings appeal to you, here are some more old barn drawings for study purposes.

Use your imagination or look around you for ideas on what to include in your sketches. Keep reference pictures so you can mix and match different items within your artwork.

Now that we have a camera in our mobile phones, it's so easy to take a shot of anything that draws your attention. This way, you build your own library of things to draw or sketch at a later stage.

If anyone ever asks me how to start drawing, I always refer them to copying simple cartoown drawings.

There's no point freaking out about copyright rules when you are imitating other people's work because you have no intention to sell arnything at this early stage. As you grow and learn, you come to respect all original artists for their creations. You use this as your motivation to be just as creative and not an imitator.

If you have always wanted to produce some cartoon drawings, please give it a go - and just remember to keep it simple. Exaggerate the features, put in a few scribbly lines here and there, and you'll discover (just like I did) that you can do it, too!

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